September 18, 2019 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 5
Arts & Entertainment
Apple Takes on Netflix
With a $5-a-Month
Streaming Service
The Tamron Hall Show Debuts
By Nsenga K. Burton,
Ph.D., NNPA Newswire
Entertainment and
Culture Editor
Walt Disney will launch a $7-a-month
competitor the same month
A
merica’s
news
sweetheart Tam-
ron Hall is back
with a self-titled
daytime talk show The
Tamron Hall Show. Fol-
lowing Hall’s contro-
versial yet celebrated
2017 exit from the Today
Show after being curbed
in favor of white su-
premacist-y Megyn Kel-
ly, Hall returns to televi-
sion as a talk show host
on her terms.
In addition to Hall’s
professional life, a lot
has also changed in her
personal life since the
abrupt Today and MSN-
BC exit. The award-win-
ning journalist is now
married and a mother
of a son, which she dis-
cussed at the “Journey
to My Wildest Dreams”
Toyota sponsored lun-
cheon at the 2019 NABJ
national
convention
held in Miami.
Hall discussed how
motherhood
has
changed her life, the
confidence required to
be in the news business
and the challenges faced
By Michael Liedtke
AP Technology Writer
The Tamron Hall Show debuted 9/9/19. Check local listings for channel and time information.
by Blacks in general and
Black women specifical-
ly on the often-compli-
cated journey to success.
Hall reiterated the im-
portance of having a seat
at the table and being
ready when the oppor-
tunity presents itself.
“There was a window,
a sliver of opportunity
and I took it,” says Hall.
“I knew I had to shoot
my shot,” says the Texas
native. Indeed, Hall shot
her shot, landing on her
feet with a daytime talk
show in a market that is
crowded but ripe for a
voice like Hall’s.
Hall’s return to day-
time pits her against an-
other one of America’s
sweethearts, Grammy
award-winning singer
Kelly Clarkson who is
also launching a self-ti-
tled talk show on the
same day on NBC no less.
Clarkson is the season
one winner of American
Idol and has served as a
judge on the wildly pop-
ular NBC reality show
The Voice.
Hall will also be wad-
ing into territory cur-
rently occupied by Wen-
dy Williams, Rachel
Ray, and the ladies of
The View and The Talk
among others. Hall cre-
ated this talk show to
bring people together
and to give them an op-
portunity to share their
“authentic journey.”
One of the ways Hall
is shaping her show is
by insisting the makeup
of the crew reflect her
audience. Despite hav-
ing veteran executive
producer Bill Geddie at
the helm, Hall insisted
that more women be
hired because she wants
to empower people like
her — a self-described
country girl from Lul-
ing, Texas who has made
it to the upper echelons
of television and news.
Although creating and
See TAMRON on page 7
CUPERTINO, Calif. —
Apple is finally taking
on Netflix with its own
streaming television ser-
vice and, uncharacteris-
tically for the company,
offering it at a bargain
price — $5 a month be-
ginning on Nov. 1.
Walt Disney Co. is
launching its own as-
sault on Netflix the same
month, for just $7.
It may be sheer coinci-
dence that the cost of pay-
ing for both Apple and
Disney
subscriptions
will still be a dollar less
than Netflix’s main plan,
priced at $13 a month.
But the intent to disrupt
Netflix’s huge lead in
the streaming business
couldn’t be clearer.
Apple delivered the
news Tuesday while also
unveiling three new iP-
hones that won’t look
much different than last
year’s models other than
boasting an additional
camera for taking pic-
tures from extra-wide
angles.
The aggressive pricing
is unusual for Apple,
which typically charges
a premium for products
and services to burnish
its brand. Most analysts
expected Apple to charge
$8 to $10 per month for
the service, which will be
called Apple TV Plus.
But Apple is entering a
market that Netflix prac-
tically created in 2007 —
around the same time as
the first iPhone came out.
And Netflix has amassed
more than 150 million
subscribers,
meaning
that Apple needed to
make a splash.
“You have to expect
they’re going to do some-
thing, considering how
hyper competitive the
streaming video space
is,” said Tim Hanlon, CEO
of Vertere Group.
Apple CEO Tim Cook
See APPLE on page 7